We were invited to visit Rancho San Felipe, about 20 minutes up a dirt road in a 4-wheel drive. First, our guide, Ceci, who is the coordinator for the Keep Loreto Magical Foundation, wanted to show us one of the two new designated National Parks.
This is a huge win for Loreto and involved many conservation groups and allies to make it happen. Now there is a protected area of land that connects the foothills of the Sierra de la Giganta Mountains to the Sea of Cortez, where the Marine National Park begins!
She holds back tears telling us about the new National Park. She won't take credit, but she worked hard on this project and it means a lot to her. She tells us about the water table, the native plants, and how hot bare soil can get. She's really enthusiastic about companion plants and teaches us about nitrogen fixers here in the desert landscape. You can read more about the new national parks here: https://www.keeploretomagical.org/magical-stories/2-new-national-parks-nopolo-park-amp-loreto-ii-park
It's too hot already by 9 am, so we cut the hike short and head further up the dirt road to the farm.
We are greeted by lots of Chihuahuas, peacocks, turkeys, chickens, and goats. An old radio blasts music in Spanish.
Ceci introduces us to our hosts and ranchers, José and Francisca. They have been farming here for 40 years.
José is happy to show us the garden. He's using waffle garden/sunken beds. The soil is rich with finished manure, which he sells in town.
It's the beginning of the growing season here in October, so the tomatoes are just sprouting. They have onions, alfalfa, peppers, peanuts, squash, and sugar cane, which they grow as a permanent food source for the animals.
I ask a lot of questions, which Ceci translates. I want to know if the alfalfa is for animals or the soil and learn it's for lactating mothers to improve milk supply. I had no idea!
The orchards have avocado, mango, citrus, and olives. This is the first year they had olives to harvest; they have waited 15 years.
We are invited inside their ranch home. They also own a home in Loreto and travel between the two. José tells us that many things here have been pulled from the dump.
He recently retired from his sanitation career and is farming in retirement. He repurposed a lot of things like this paddock fencing for his horse, which had a first life as a mattress.
Dakota is excited to meet their desert tortoises and be in the shade. She asked me if they had AC because she was breaking out in hives from the heat. It was hard to tell we were inside their house because it is open air.
In the back, Francisca has a kitchen fire going to boil milk for her coffee. They offer us goat cheese. I really don't want to eat it, but I do anyway. Luckily, Sam eats enough; they can see we are courteous people. Pearl eats it too. We buy honey and eggs.
José invites us to take a walk to the spring. Pearl and Sam go to see where the water comes out of the ground. Because Dakota has a heat rash, she and I stay in the shade.
The pools of water are full of tilapia; it wasn't clear if this is a food source or if they use the water for fertilizer or both. By now, our guide, Ceci, has departed, and Google Translate isn't working well without reception, so we rely on the humanity in our faces and a few Spanish words to convey gratitude and appreciation. This was my favorite field trip yet.